It is well known to produce spreadable products, for instance peanut butter spreads and cheese spreads. A peanut butter spread is fairly unique as spreads go, comprising at least about 90% whole peanuts, the remaining 10% being sweetener, salt and stabilizer. The whole peanuts are about 40-50% peanut oil, the remainder being protein solids. Although peanut butter has a very pleasing taste and texture, the strong flavor of the whole peanuts, in such a dominant amount, by and large prevents the use of this formulation for spreads of a different flavor.
Other food spreads of various types, such as margarine, but also including cheese spreads, are almost universally based on aqueous sytems and require product refrigeration once exposed to the atmosphere.
Prior U.S. Pat. No. 2,222,560 to Clickner describes a cheese-flavored composition which comprises spray dried cheese powder and a fat such as refined coconut oil or hydrogenated coconut, cottonseed, sesame, or corn oil. The composition may comprise 15-20% cheese powder, and is said to be substantially solid at room temperature, having a consistency similar to butter. It is adapted to be applied to popcorn or the like by melting and then pouring or spraying, and would not be suitable for use in a coated product of the type wherein heat stability was required.
Prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,439 to Hoover describes a peanut/cheese food product which is said to have a long shelf life at room temperature and which can vary in consistency from a firm cheddar cheese-like texture to a soft spreadable consistency. The product appears to be a marriage of peanut and cheese flavors, and comprises about 50-80% ground roasted nuts, 10-40% dehydrated cheese material, and 5-15% of an ingredient referred to as a texture-modifying agent comprising non-hydrogenated fat in combination with hydrogenated fat, glycerides and mixtures thereof. The texture-modifying agent is stated to have a Capillary Melting Point above 120.degree. F. Varying the ratio of hydrogenated to non-hydrogenated fat is said to alter the texture from firm to soft, without changing the total fat content. There is no teaching in this patent concerning stabilizing an oil solids product.
In the Hoover patent, the product is not an engineered composition. More correctly, it should be characterized as a filled peanut butter. Peanut butter has a standard of identity and must by law comprise about 90% peanuts, of which about 50% is oil and 50% is solids. The additives to the ground peanuts comprises less than 10% of the composition, namely, a sweetener, salt and a stabilizer.
The object in Hoover is to bulk up the composition with a complementary flavor, namely, that provided by cheese powder. Still, basically, it is a filled peanut butter since the peanut butter comprises up to 80% of the composition, typically about 65%-70%. To put it another way, the Hoover composition is essentially 70% peanut butter, with added cheese particles.
To compensate for the reduction of ground peanuts in the composition, and addition of cheese powders, Hoover suggests adding what he refers to as a texture-modifying agent. Hoover then goes a step further and states that the composition can be made thin or stiff by adjusting the ratio of hydrogenated fat to non-hydrogenated fat used in the texture-modifying agent.
This is the context of Hoover; basically, an extension of peanut butter technology.
Clearly, Hoover would be as unsuitable for the present invention as peanut butter itself, in that the composition is locked into not only the characteristics of peanut butter, but also the flavor. In this regard, the ratio of added fat to indigenous fat, from the peanut butter and added cheese powder, is important. In Table 1 of the patent, 64.6% of the composition is ground roasted nuts (50% peanut oil). This provides about 32% fat. The dehydrated cheese, in the amount of 24%, is about 50% butterfat, but only about 75% of the butterfat is released, during processing, for the addition of about 9% fat. This adds up to about 41% indigenous fat. From the ranges given in Table 1, the Hoover composition, using the above mode of calculation, is at least about 28.7% indigenous fat. By contrast, the amount of added texture modifying agent added is in the range of about 5-15% (Table 1).
From the above, it is apparent that the indigenous fat content dominates the characteristics of the composition.
In processing, the lipid ingredients are heated until melted, and the ground roasted nuts are then added, with mixing to a smooth consistency. Also added would be an emulsifier such as lecithin, along with salt, flavorants and colorants. The dehydrated cheese is then blended in at a temperature of 140.degree. F. This is followed by packaging, although it is indicated that the mixture can be passed through a colloid mill or homogenizer prior to packaging.
The product is said to have a water activity rating of less than about 0.7, thereby avoiding the need for refrigerated storage.
Since the patent is directed essentially to a means for combining peanut ingredients and cheese powders, it is clearly limited to products where a peanut/cheese flavor is desired.